Investigation Underway After Citation Encore Intercepted in Washington

Fighter jets scrambled over D.C. before the private airplane went down in northern Virginia on June 4.

Monday, June 05, 2023 at 12:12 PM ET

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The presence of the unauthorized aircraft triggered North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to scramble F-16s out of Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. [Courtesy: US Air Force]

Key Takeaways:

A civilian Cessna 560 Citation V Encore, with an unresponsive pilot, overflew heavily restricted airspace near Washington D.C.
NORAD scrambled F-16 fighter jets that intercepted the Cessna, causing a sonic boom, but were unable to establish contact with the pilot.
The aircraft subsequently entered a steep spiraling descent and crashed in rural Virginia, killing all four people on board, including family members of the plane's owner.
Authorities, including the FAA and NTSB, are currently investigating the cause of the pilot's unresponsiveness and the fatal accident.

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Authorities are trying to determine what caused the pilot of a Cessna 560 Citation V Encore to become unresponsive and overfly the nation’s capital Sunday afternoon, triggering an intercept by military fighter jets.

The presence of the unauthorized aircraft triggered North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to scramble six fighter jets in pairs, from air bases in Maryland, New Jersey and South Carolina, a command spokesperson at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida told FLYING. The two F-16s that deployed from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland reached the Cessna first, resulting in a sonic boom as the military jet closed on the wayward civilian jet.